Hyderabad is the second city in India to set up the Online Continuous Effluent Monitoring System (OCEMS) at 25 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), managed by Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB). It will be the second city in India and the first in Telangana to establish OCEMS at STPs. The OCEMS gives online observation of treated effluent parameters such as Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), pH value. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has made it compulsory for every city, which has STPs to establish OCEMS. M Dana Kishore, HMWS&SB Managing Director, told the media that the Water Board keeps the 25 STPs in GHMC limits, along with a sewage treatment capacity of 772 million litres per day (MLD). The Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) observes the treated effluent parameters of every STPs. Every senior HMWS&SB official has access to the OCEMS by a mobile application to observe the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of the STPs. The Water Body would take the readings for parameters at the inlets and outlets of every STPs. Kishore revealed that if any parameter is over the permitted standards, the officer can review the data for the previous week and implement corrective measures to bring back the parameters within the permissible standards. Earlier, the CPCB made OCEMS compulsory for industries where Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) were set up. However, now the same is implemented for STPs. The Boards officials informed that OCE assesses several Physico-chemical parameters and bacteriological features. The system aims to monitor the discharge standards constantly. The Board would take the readings for parameters at the inlets and outlets of each STPs for BOD, COD, TSS, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and other additional levels. STPs have been set based on different technologies, including Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR), Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR), Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) Reactor, and Extended Aeration. Image Source Also read: Ahmedabad civic body to strengthen sewage treatment system